Unusual

First of all, I'd like to expand on yesterday's post. My friend Scot asked the question about how many road sweeps the Rox have had as a franchise. So, each of us began our own research and then compared results. The bottom line is that the weekend sweep of the Padres in SD was the 13th sweep of a road series of three or four games. The most in a season has been three in 1997 and the Rox had zero sweeps in 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 2005. The Rox have swept LA three times; Arizona, San Diego and Montreal/Washington twice.

The Rox kept their current winning streak alive last night with the 6-5 win against the snakes. They did put one streak to rest though. The first six games of the season saw the Rox give up at least one run in the first inning of every game. Last night they didn't allow a run in the first. However, the way they avoided it was very unusual. With the bases loaded and one out, Jackson hit a line drive to Holliday that was trapped. With the runners on first and second frozen to see if the ball was caught or not, Holliday threw to third for a force and then Atkins threw to second for a double play. The play was originally ruled a run-scoring play since DeVanon crossed the plate before the third out, but the umpires changed the call since a run cannot score on an inning-ending double play. Unusual!

Again, I know it is early, but the Rox are fourth in the NL in ERA at 4.29 and tied for first in home runs allowed at four. Last year after seven games the Rox' ERA was 7.91 and enthusiasm was waning rapidly. Also, last year after seven games the bullpen had already lost three games and blown four saves. This year they have yet to do either. What a difference a year makes, at least to this point. The Rox also lead the NL in total bases with 146. This isn't a total surprise, but they have done nearly all of the damage on the road. Unusual!

In looking at the team stats so far, I noticed that the Braves are last in the NL in ERA at 6.85. Unusual!